


Ignis Indignatio

by masterk1



Category: Original Work
Genre: Lesbians, Magic, Multi, Polyamory, Referenced Child Abuse, Slavery
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-19
Updated: 2018-04-12
Packaged: 2019-04-04 11:45:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,828
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14019543
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/masterk1/pseuds/masterk1
Summary: High Fantasy Shenanigans. One female ruler and her entire family including her adopted son fite everything standing in their way.





	1. Escape

**Author's Note:**

> Credit for the fury system of magic goes to Jim Butcher, author of Codex Alera. I recommend that series to anyone who likes high fantasy honestly. Also this first one will be a short chapter just to get started.

     This was routine for Faustus. Wait for his father to come home, then hide and avoid his wrath while he indulged in one of his pleasures. It wasn’t easy being an illegitimate child. It wouldn’t be as bad though if his father didn’t constantly remind him of it. He looked in the large full body mirror in his room. He fixed his auburn hair as if it mattered for what he had planned and looked deep into his own green eyes for a moment. He did that for a while, wanting to mentally prepare himself. He walked over to his bed, throwing on the large fur jacket he had placed there and slung a pack full of clothes and supplies over his shoulders. He couldn’t deal with life here any longer. Between the beratings and beatings, he couldn’t deal with it. He left his room and quietly closed the door behind him, silently walking through the halls of the castle. He didn’t see any of the usual maids that wandered the halls but he knew why, they were one of his father’s pleasures. He slowed as he walked past his father’s study, wanting to not make a single sound. It wasn’t until he reached the exit of the castle that he heard someone stirring behind him. As he did, he barreled through the door with enhanced strength, drawing upon earthcraft to do so. He ran out into the relative warmth of the city. The white stone making up everything in the city radiated heat and the roads even glowed slightly.

     Faustus sprinted through the city streets, picking up speed as he heard sentry gargoyles crackling to life as they awakened from the slumber his father kept them in. He drew his gladius from his belt at his side and drew upon his metalcraft, willing the blade to be sharper so he could slice through the leg of a gargoyle in his path, sending it crashing to the ground. He drew upon windcrafted speed, hastening his escape. It was now more than any other time that he wished he could fly. Unfortunately, he didn’t have a strong enough wind fury to be able to do such. That’s when he saw the ground itself bulge slightly in front of him. Faustus immediately changed course to head towards the gates leading out of the city, not wanting to take his chances with the large golem now emerging from the street behind him. He could feel the temperature shift chill him to the core as he left the city, sliding his gladius back into its sheath as he continued running.

     Eventually, he slowed as he felt he was a decent distance away from the city of Cestia. He called upon his fire fury, hoping it would help him in keeping warmth inside of himself. He just wished that Cestia had been build farther south, in a more tropical area of Salernum. It would have been a blessing. He walked through the snowy plains, heading towards the mountains. That was the direction of the next closest city.

     Faustus was exhausted, he had used more of his own energy stores than he thought as he was escaping Cestia. He even felt the firecrafted heat leaving his body as he continued to trudge through the snow, the cold chilling him more as time went on. He sat down in the snow, unloading a bedroll and some tinder from his bag. He laid the tinder in a neat pile, reaching into his bag again for a flint and steel to light the tinder. He moved over, sitting on his bedroll while soaking in the heat for a moment before fully crawling into it. All he could do is wait through the rest of the night and hope for the best.


	2. Saved

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Faustus' escape was rewarded with his saving from the snowy wasteland.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Faustus is a good boy and I love him. And now you meet one of the big lesbian trio too.

     Aurelia came to the walls of Statia as soon as she heard smoke could be seen out in the snowfields. That could mean only one thing, danger. Either for Statia or an individual. She walked through the gates of her city, waving a hand absently as one of her soldiers ran up alongside her. “I’ll go alone. There’s no need to risk anyone else if there’s danger.”

     “But High Lady Statius…”

     “Finnias, you’re a loyal soldier. You’ve proven yourself many a time and are loyal beyond belief. I wouldn’t ask you to come with me, though, and you know it.”

     The old soldier nodded his head slightly, his black hair streaked with gray in many parts. He would look to be about twenty years old due to his proficiency at watercrafting, though, if it weren’t for his hair. “Yes, High Lady Statius.”

     She left him behind as she walked out into the snow fields outside of Statia. She had honestly chosen a perfect location for her city. It was placed against the base of a mountain, which guarded one side of the city while still allowing them perfect view of the fields. The snow fields were as barren and flat as usual. Aurelia took to the skies, to hasten her trip to where the smoke was coming from. As she got closer, she realized it was a campfire, only barely glowing in the darkness of the night. She made several circles over the area, surveying it until she decided it was safe to land. As she approached the fire, she saw someone huddled in a bedroll. It was a boy, no more than sixteen years old. He was shivering and looked exhausted, in a deep sleep. An occasional flinch or jump could be seen from his body but she discounted it as a side effect of the shivering. She walked up to the sleeping form, gently setting a hand on him and shaking him back and forth. “Are you alright? Do you need help of some kind? I can at least provide somewhere warm to say.”

     Faustus grumbled lowly as he slowly woke up, blinking his eyes as he saw the woman kneeling over his prone form. He looked at her in disbelief, as if what she was saying was too good to be true. She was pale in complexion, with long black hair that reached her mid-back. She seemed relatively thin in figure but carried herself in a way that implied strength. His shivering made it a bit difficult to talk and he was still beyond exhausted. “I-I’m fine. Just tired.” He slowly propped himself up using a hand until he sat straight up. “Who are you?”

     “Aurelia Statius.” She stood slowly, reaching a hand down to help him up soon after. “Wrap your arms around my shoulders and hang on tight.”

     Faustus did as she said. He recognized her name, if only because his father hated her. He benefited from the slave trade, specifically the female slave trade. The Slaver’s Consortium was highly unhappy with her being in power, and his father was losing profits. That and his father believed a woman was unfit to rule. After he wrapped his arms around her shoulders, he realized why she had asked him to do such. She had judged how exhausted he was correctly. He was a bit startled as they both lifted off the ground, flying low the entire way to the city gates, the snowfield practically flying by underneath them. She was much stronger than she looked, but perhaps it was due to earthcrafted strength as one of her feet dragged along the ground at all points in time, the other held up behind her slightly. As they passed through the threshold of the city, they alighted on the ground. The city itself was beautiful. The streets were made of a multicolored stone. Labradorite, if his past reading in his father’s study had served him right. The colors reflected brilliantly due to the lights of the many furylamps lining the streets, contrasting with the dark basalt of the sidewalks and buildings. Mount Statius which her family got its namesake from was volcanic, and all the stone that made the city had come from the fiery volcano. He walked alongside her up the sloped streets which led towards the large city square, the castle of the ruler looming in front of them. The stairs between the marketplace and the castle, though, seemed endless as he climbed them.

     “Mind if I ask who you are, boy?”

     “Faustus Cestius, High Lady Statius.”

     “Son of High Lord Lucius Cestius?”

     “Illegitimate son…” He spoke the statement with obvious bitterness. It was clear that it was a sore subject.

     “Well, you may stay here for as long as you wish, Faustus.” Aurelia led him to the second floor and down a hallway, stopping at a door along the left wall midway through. She laid a hand on the door, pushing it open slowly. “Here is a guest room in the castle. It’s normally saved for visiting High Lords or knights, but you may use it for as long as you wish. If you need anything at all, find me and I will do whatever I can.”

     Faustus avoided her gaze as he responded, not used to this kind of generosity. “Thank you, High Lady Statius.”

     “Like I say to anyone who lives and works around the castle, call me Aurelia. Please only use my proper title when the situation calls for it. It makes me feel like I can relate more to others if the title isn’t used.”

     “Yes ma’am.”

     “Now if you need nothing else, I’m going to go let my  _ singulares _ know that you are a guest in the castle. That will help prevent any misunderstandings.”

     “Thank you, Aurelia. I don’t need anything else.”

     “Then rest up, you look exhausted.” A concerned expression touched her features as she spoke, she could tell the boy was utterly exhausted.

     Faustus closed the door as he entered the bedchambers and laid down on the mattress. He thought about how he left his travel pack in the field along with his gladius, but he could always go back to get those things later. For now, he needed legitimate rest. He felt like he could sleep for a least a year’s time if he really wanted to. He sat on the side of the bed, taking each boot off and placing them neatly by the foot of the bed before removing his heavy fur coat and thick long-sleeved hide shirt he wore underneath before crawling into bed and closing his eyes. After at least an hour of tossing and turning, which felt like an eternity, Faustus drifted off to sleep.


	3. Challenge

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> oh boy someone's not happy

     Aurelia walked with a purpose, she had a guest that had arrived and she had to be nice to him. At least, she had to attempt to. Brankia and Kaeso were trailing her, her bodyguards. She moved her head from side to side just to make sure they were still there. Brankia wasn’t the most intimidating of guards, only standing five foot eight and being relatively thin in build. She was very muscular though and anyone who underestimated her would quickly regret that decision. Aurelia made eye contact with her, giving her a slight smile and nodding in acknowledgement. Brankia returned the nod, her short blonde hair bobbing slightly as she did. As her hair fell back into its normal position, Aurelia couldn’t prevent her eyes from trailing to the burn scars littering her right cheek and frowning slightly out of remorse. Aurelia then looked over to Kaeso. He was over six feet and also very muscular, an intimidating guard. He always had a sort of piercing gaze, those blue eyes were always calculating and looking around for the slightest signs of danger. Aurelia gave him a nod as well and he promptly returned it. He was dark in complexion and had a large greatsword slung across his back, its blood red blade glimmering in the light. She took a deep breath as the three of them walked into the meeting room.

     Aurelia gave a false smile to the guest, who was also flanked by two of his own guards. “High Lord Cestius, to what should I give the honor of your visit to Statia?”

     “Aurelia Statius-”

     Kaeso quickly cut him off as he spoke with a loud clearing of his throat. “ _ High Lady _ Statius, my lord.” He was gracious as always, even when making corrections.

     “I don’t believe she asked for you to speak, swordsman. If she wanted to correct me, she would have done it herself.”

     Aurelia held up a hand as she could almost feel Kaeso walking closer, he had an extreme distaste for the man they were speaking to. “Do you have some sort of business here?”

     Lucius Cestius nodded slightly, a slight smirk on his face. “I believe you have something that belongs to me.”

     Aurelia tilted her head slightly, confused by his words. “I’m not sure what you’re talking about. I have never stolen from anyone.”

     “My son-”

     “I'm afraid for him to have been your son, he would have to consider you his father.”

     “I wasn’t done speaking,  _ Aurelia _ .” He put emphasis on her name, implying he had no respect for her. “He was my son before the damned child ran away.”

     “You only want him back now that you’ve realized that he’s possibly stronger than yourself.” She spoke very matter-of-factly, not hesitating at all. “Also if you keep speaking to me in such a way, you might live to regret it.”

     “I’ll speak to you however I wish, woman. You are not even fit to rule, I’m not sure how your people even accept you.”

     Aurelia took a few steps closer, making herself face-to-face to the man. “Lucius Cestius, I warned you. I challenge you to  _ juris macto _ . Name a time and location to have the combat, and appoint a champion in your stead. That is, if you’re too afraid to fight a woman.”

     His face was red with anger, his fists balled tightly at his sides. His dark eyes seemed to wish for her death. “Tomorrow morning at sunrise, the open field outside of your city here. Would hate to destroy your pitiful city. I will not be appointing a champion, I’d rather kill you with my own hands.”

     Aurelia gave him a confident smile, nodding slightly. “I’ll see you then, Lucius.” After she finished speaking, she quickly turned around and left the room with her guards, not giving him a chance to respond. “Sir Kaeso, you may leave our company, we’re going to meet up with Lady Nozo in my chambers. I believe she’d like to know what’s going on.”

     Kaeso nodded slightly as she spoke. “Be careful, High Lady Statius.”

     Brankia spoke up, she was a lady of few words. “I will watch her back, Sir Kaeso, don’t worry.”

     He seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. “I’m not sure what we’d do without you, Lady Brankia.”

     She chuckled softly, flashing the swordsman a smile as they walked away before picking up the pace to walk alongside Aurelia. “What were you thinking? This is incredibly dangerous.”

     “He was blatantly insulting me in front of both of you as well as his own guards. I had to stand up for my own honor. If I didn’t, I would never earn any respect from others.”

     Brankia shook her head back and forth slowly. “You have to be insane. Nozo’s not gonna be happy with this.”

     Aurelia pushed open the door to their room slightly, giving a gentle smile to the doctor who also shared the room with her. “Nozo, I have some news.”

     She looked up from what she was researching, it looked to be a juvenile Krekx, one of the violent and invasive race of creatures that were almost alien. It hadn’t taken a larger form just yet, it was known that they went through a sort of metamorphosis, Nozo really wanted to study them to figure them out. “By how you said that, I’m guessing it’s not good news.” She stood up from her chair slowly, turning to face Aurelia and Brankia. She was a rather short person, soft in her stature and features, dark in complexion. Her hair was shoulder length and also dark, much like her eyes. Aurelia thought she was beautiful.

     Brankia shook her head back and forth, sitting down on their bed. “She’s an idiot, that’s what this boils down to. She challenged Lucius Cestius to  _ juris macto _ .”

     “Trial by combat. What did that asshole do this time?” Nozo seemed slightly unsurprised at the announcement though. All three of them tended to dislike Lucius.

     “He came back trying to take claim to Faustus. I basically told him that Faustus wasn’t his son anymore and he wasn’t too happy about that.”

     Nozo chuckled softly, her mouth curling up slightly at the corners. It made the scar leading from the right corner of her mouth more prominent but it was obvious she was entertained by the situation. “Maybe he should have thought about that before abusing him and running him off.”

     Aurelia shook her head back and forth slightly. “Lucius wants an heir to his throne since he hasn’t had another son is my guess. Faustus may be his illegitimate child but he’s still Lucius’ child. That and he’s a strong furycrafter of course. Lucius never tries to do anything that won’t make himself look good in the end.”

     Echinozoa nodded slightly in agreement before moving to the bed to sit next to Brankia, laying her hand gently over Brankia’s as she sat down. “So when’s the fight and where’s it going to be?”

     “Tomorrow morning at sunrise, in the snowfields outside of the city.”

     Nozo seemed surprised for a moment then shook her head back and forth slowly. “He’s a master watercrafter, all that snow will be his playground.”

     Aurelia nodded knowingly at her before letting out a soft sigh. “Of course, that’s why he chose the area. He has an advantage. I’m a pretty good watercrafter too but I don’t know if I can match up to him, not if the rumors are true. I will give him a fight he won’t soon forget though if anything.”

     Brankia tilted her head slightly as Aurelia spoke, slight confusion on her features. “That look you have right now. You have a plan.”

     “Something of one, yes, but we’ll see if it works. You guys go and do whatever you need to though. I’m going to bed early, I want to be rested for the trial.”

     Both Brankia and Nozo nodded slightly before they both got up from the bed. Nozo returned to her studies, Brankia leaving the room supposedly to report in to Sir Kaeso. Aurelia moved as well to get changed into some comfier clothes so she could get some sleep. Her mind was racing. This was going to be the most difficult confrontation she had been in. All of the high lords were known for their furycrafting strength. She was included among them of course, but she didn’t know how this was going to play out. She let out a soft sigh to herself, she would prepare herself for the worst.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT


	4. Juris Macto

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> FITE FITE FITE

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> here have an ok showcasing of the magic system

     The next day came after what felt like an eternity. Nozo and Brankia had joined her in bed at some point of the night and she was essentially sandwiched between the two of them. She had to escape this without waking them up. Aurelia slowly got up and crawled down the center of the bed, making sure not to rouse either of them. She had to get ready for the event. She slid on a pair of high boots and warm but well fitting pants to allow for a good range of movement. She put on a white silk shirt and some leathers to cover them. She had to dress light to allow for flight while also having her clothing be sturdy. It was a careful balance. When she was ready, she left her room. Sir Kaeso was already waiting for her.

     “You’re ready?”

     “How’d you know I’d be leaving for the snow fields right now.”

     “Sunrise isn’t too long from now. That and I know you by this point. It’d be almost sad if I didn’t.” Kaeso gave her a genuine smile with a touch of concern. Even he knew the risk associated with this. He held out her gladius to her in its sheath, allowing her to put it on.

     Once she had the gladius situated on her hip, she nodded to Sir Kaeso. “I suppose we should head out then.” She began walking as soon as she spoke, just wanting to get this over with. It wasn’t long before Nozo and Brankia caught up to them as well. She knew they would want to tag along. 

     When they got to the area, it seemed like many people wanted to watch the conflict actually. She had no idea how word got out, but Aurelia had a feeling that it had something to do with Lucius. She walked up in front of Lucius, offering out her hand as a sign of good faith.

     Lucius shook her hand and spoke loud enough for everyone to hear. “You know, it’s not too late, back down and we won’t have to do this.”

     A public challenge, one that would ruin her image were she to accept. “I must politely decline, High Lord Cestius.”

     “Well then High Lady Statius, I suppose this is unavoidable then.”

     Aurelia noted that he was now using her proper title. She supposed it was due to the fact that he couldn’t compromise his own image by being disrespectful in public. She walked a decent distance away from him then turned to face him, her right hand resting on the pommel of her gladius. Sir Kaeso stepped between them, nodding at them both.

     “So you both will not back down. Everyone here knows what that means. There are no rules in  _ juris macto _ . The victor will decide the fate of the loser. You fight until one of you dies or is unable to fight back if you do not wish to kill them. No spectators will interfere or they will meet my own blade.” It was a brief outline of the proceedings but it was all that needed to be said. Kaeso walked away to stand with the crowd which was watching from a safe distance. There was a quiet buzz of excitement among the crowd. It wasn’t every day that you got to see a fight between two rulers of different cities.

     Both Aurelia and Lucius unsheathed their swords, pointing them up towards the sky. Flame could be seen licking the edges of both blades at first as they called upon their fire furies. Lucius’ flame sprung to life first, the bright green and gold of his city’s colors. Aurelia’s flared up second, the cool blue and silver of her own city’s colors. Both were representing their own honor and their respective city’s honor in this conflict.

     Lucius lowered his sword quickly to point the tip in Aurelia’s direction but she already knew the tactic and called upon her wind fury, quickly taking to the skies. Just as she lifted off the ground, a white hot flame passed underneath her from the sword of her opponent. She quickly shifted direction, sending her down towards her opponent.

     Lucius chuckled and raised his arms, the snow in the field around him stirring to life in a miniature blizzard that made Aurelia veer off course and crash to the ground, her wind fury disrupted by the high wind from the blizzard. As she hit the ground, she was quickly covered in snow, the layer immediately around seeming to melt and freeze once again. 

     Aurelia knew she couldn’t call upon her fire furies while surrounded by water, that was his plan. Instead, she called upon her earth fury to grant her extra strength. She struggled under the tough ice until she was able to get her left arm free, using it to pound on the ice under her as snow came down over her where there was once ice. The ground slightly shook as the process continued, Aurelia calling upon her wind fury as soon as the ice was off of her to violently blow the snow off of her. She quickly closed the distance between her and Lucius once she was above the snow with wind-enhanced speed. Lucius seemed to have the same idea as her, matching her speed with his own. Their swords loudly clanged together, sparks flying as they made contact. Both struggled with one another, each blow from one blocked by the other. To any onlooker, it was hard to even see the sword swings of the combatants. Each successive clash of swords sent more sparks flying in each of the cities’ respective colors. 

     An idea sprung up. Aurelia closed her eyes for a moment and let her instincts guide her blade, putting herself on the defensive. She called upon her fire furies to quickly bring her sword alight once more, a bright flash of blue and silver light that could even be seen by her closed eyes. Lucius let out a slightly startled yelp and took a step backwards. Aurelia opened her eyes and closed the distance between them once more, leaving her sword alight for a quick downstroke of the sword that caused Lucius’ metal cuirass to fall off his body and dug a shallow trench down the center of his shirt and body that cauterized itself. 

     Lucius, however, called upon his metalcrafting prowess to dull the pain, delivering a quick strike with his pommel to the wrist of her sword hand. Her sword fell to the ground, melting the snow underneath it quickly and becoming encased in ice. That would make things considerably more difficult. Lucius raised his non dominant hand to point towards her with an open palm, a blinding stream of snow quickly following.

     Aurelia was prepared for that move this time, though, and was able to take to the skies before he was able to slam her to the ground again. She stayed up and out of his reach to force him to take to the sky as well, his sword springing to life with flame once more.

     Lucius quickly swooped towards her, Aurelia spinning slightly to her left to avoid the flames of the sword. She quickly called upon her wind fury again, using it to disrupt the windstream keeping Lucius aloft. She didn’t wait for him to hit the ground, following up behind his falling form with all the speed she could muster and slamming into his body speeding up his descent.

     Lucius spoke up as they were locked in the potentially deathly fall. “Are you crazy, woman!? You could kill us both.”

     Aurelia couldn’t help but chuckle slightly. That was a definite possibility. “Either you cushion our fall using your watercraft to bring more snow underneath us or we both die, correct.”

     She had him in checkmate. The watercraft necessary would leave him too exhausted to continue the fight. However, she didn’t know if he could pull it off. He had dropped his sword when they made contact which meant he couldn’t draw upon the metal to dull his own pain. 

     Lucius let out a grunt of exertion, the snow underneath their landing spot stirring and piling up into what looked like the form of a hand. He had more left in him than she had given him credit for.

     They crashed into the structure of snow and plowed into the ground. A loud crunch could be heard by both as they hit the ground, Aurelia rolling off of the man’s body and struggling back to her feet, however shakily. Lucius slowly raised to a knee, looking up at her defiantly. Aurelia had one final gamble. But Lucius probably did as well. He wasn’t a man who enjoyed losing.

     Aurelia spoke softly, hoarsely. “Julius.” As she did, a figure began to rise from the ground. Her earth fury, a panther made of stone with glittering sapphire eyes. It was about the size of a small horse. Lucius seemed to have a similar idea, though, calling upon his earth fury as well. It was a large golem of black stone, no features could be made out on its face. It slowly lumbered forward but was quickly met by Julius, who lunged at the fury’s knees. A loud resounding crack could be heard and then both furies sank into the ground.

     The ground rumbled and shook as the two fury’s battled beneath them, Aurelia slowly moving towards the kneeling high lord’s form. She reached down, picking him up by what was left of his shirt. “High Lord Lucius, stop this.”

     “I’d rather die than lose to you!” His voice was filled with anger and spite brought about by an arrogant man on the ropes. 

     Aurelia called upon the strength of her earth fury only slightly, not wanting to detract too much from the ongoing battle that could be felt. She hurled the weakened High lord directly downwards, driving his body back into the ground, coming down with him to place a knee on his chest. She pounded n him, delivering solid blows across his face that brought black bruises to his skin. As he lost consciousness and she could feel the fight between their earth furies stop due to his loss of influence over his own fury, she stopped. Aurelia practically fell off of him, panting lightly. She closed her eyes, only slightly aware of the people now moving to surround the two combatants. The fight was over, neither party could continue. However, Aurelia had won.

 


	5. Recovery

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Faustus is a good boy who just wants to help.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Who would've ever guessed Faustus could be a medic if he wanted?

     Faustus watched the whole fight from the sidelines in a shocked silence. He still feared that man. His father had even stopped him before the fight to talk to him, but Faustus had used Brankia and Nozo passing by him as an excuse to avoid the situation. He was actually standing between them right now as the fight raged on before them. Brankia was cheering for Aurelia loudly, while Nozo seemed to be making a small snowman. When he later looked back at the progress of her snowman, he realized it wasn’t a snowman at all, but a snow penis. With his father’s name etched into it. He couldn’t help but chuckle softly as he saw it. “Love your snowman, Nozo.”

     Her smile basically beamed up at him, proud of her handiwork. “Thanks. Thought I got your father’s likeness exactly right.”

     Faustus quickly returned to watching the intense fight in front of them, two leaders both trying to defend their honor, fighting like cornered animals. Many around him seemed to be in awe of the fighting. 

     As the fight ended, Faustus was still watching in stunned silence, as if it was too good to be true. Aurelia had won. He immediately ran to her body alongside Brankia and Nozo, helping Brankia carry her to the infirmary while Sir Kaeso grabbed his unconscious “father.” Lucius was carried to a separate area of the castle, to be seen to by the watercrafters. They carried Aurelia, though, to her own personal infirmary close to her room. Faustus and Brankia sat her down gently on a bed, Nozo quickly pulling up a chair to look at her wounds.

     “Brankia, bring a splint. Her right wrist is basically shattered. A few broken ribs too by the feel of it. She’ll be able to heal herself slowly over time with her watercrafting but we should really make sure she can easily fix the bones properly.”

     Brankia did as she was told, Faustus sitting in a nearby chair to stay out of the way. “Wait, I can watercraft too…”

     Noso looked up to him as he spoke before gesturing for him to come over to Aurelia’s comatose form. “Help with the ribs then, don’t want one puncturing her lung or anything.”

     Faustus nodded but moved to do nothing. “Alright, we’ll need to move her to a tub real quick then. Hard to do watercraft without water.”

     Brankia moved to help Faustus lift her, moving her to a tub they kept nearby in the infirmary. Faustus assumed it was just for this kind of occasion. Nozo began running water into the tub. Brankia moved to slide off Aurelia’s armor and undershirt in order to let them at least see where the injury was. It was very apparent. The skin over her midsection in general was blackened and bruised, He assumed it was from the pressure of the ice that his father attempted to crush her in as well as the hard fall to the ground. It wouldn’t be an easy fix. Faustus and Brankia carefully lowered her into the water of the tub, Nozo pulling up a stool for Faustus to sit on.

     Faustus sat in the stool provided for him, reaching down to touch the surface of the water. He sent his water fury into the water, the fury becoming an extension of his own senses. He could see what it saw, hear what it heard, and feel what it felt. He knew that Nozo said something to him but it was garbled and hard to hear from the water. He was completely detached from his own body. He searched her torso, looking for a cut or gash, some easy way to get into her body. It didn’t take much looking and Faustus willed his water fury in through the wound. He had to focus, moving his fury to set and accelerate the healing of the bones, one rib at a time. It was a long and arduous process. It made Faustus overly tired, but he refused to stop until the healing of her ribs was done and he willed his fury out of her body once more, closing the wound he had entered her through. He soon after dismissed his water fury, slumping slightly in his seat. “There… Should be fine now…”

     Nozo looked impressed by his handiwork, reaching into the water to prod at where the injuries were before nodding at him. “She’ll be a bit tender for a bit but the bones are set and healed. Good work.”

     Faustus nodded sleepily, healing took a lot of effort. “Thanks, Nozo.”

     Brankia tilted her head slightly before speaking up. “Tired? Get to bed, we’ll make sure to keep watch over her.”

     Faustus shook his head back and forth slightly, watching Brankia slowly remove Aurelia from the tub and slide her shirt back over her, moving her back to the bed. He moved to a chair in the corner of the room. “I’m not leaving this room, I’ll nap here. I owe her a thanks whenever she comes to.”

     “I’ll be back with a blanket for you, then.” Brankia left the room, Nozo going back to her work making sure Aurelia was alright.

     Faustus didn’t know when Brankia came back, falling asleep before she returned with his blanket. The day had been too physically and mentally exhausting for him.


End file.
